The 53-year-old actor, who is well known for playing a gay man who made Madonna pregnant in The Next Best Thing, said the gay community should not be offended as he does not consider himself a role model.

‘I’m not speaking on behalf of the gay community. In fact, I don’t feel like I’m part of any “community”.’

He added his mother had met his boyfriend, but said he imagines she wishes he had a wife and kids.

‘She thinks children need a father and a mother and I agree with her,’ Everett said.

Gay rights activists have blasted the British actor, who was once heralded as a pioneer when he came out 20 years ago.

Ben Summerskill, chief executive of UK-based gay rights group Stonewall, said: ‘Rupert should get out a little bit more to see the facts for himself.

‘There is absolutely no evidence that the kids of gay parents suffer in the way they are being brought up or in how they develop.’

Adrienne Burgess, who runs the Fatherhood Institute think tank, believed it was quality of care which counts, not the gender.

‘You often get this quality of parenting among gay couples,’ she said. ‘This is partly because they have thought longer and harder about having a child and because of the difficulties they have overcome to get there.’